Time Well Spent
by ALostWinchester
Summary: There's suddenly such a thing as a Wellbeing Officer at the firm. She needs to get through Harvey Specter to see Mike Ross. So how does that lead to dinner and sex? Read to find out. One Shot. Harvey x OC. (Rated T but contains slight M content)
1. Chapter 1

She walked in like she was in a hurry and her pale face burned almost red around her black eyes. At first Harvey didn't see the details of her form - she had interrupted a meeting with Lewis and Jessica in Lewis' office. Jessica watched, irritation in her eyes as Harvey stood to let the intruder know she wasn't yet welcome. She didn't even glance at him. Lewis remained in his seat, shaking his head in disdain as he began to inform the woman of her intrusion. She slammed a file on the desk and the distinctive slap of importance shut everyone up.

"Sydney McGaulley, Junior Partner, that is her sick line from the hospital because she has just filed to be off work for stress. I'm trying to keep her from pressing charges, and I'm not even a goddamn lawyer." she was leaning on the table now, right into Lewis' personal space."

"Then let her, Pearson and Hardman-"

"She's not charging Pearson and Hardman, she's charging Lewis Litt. Now I get you don't like what I do here and I don't give a damn: my job isn't to tell you how to do yours, my job is to make sure your staff manage their own work life balance. Being a lawyer demands sacrifice but even the person with the highest IQ won't have the life experience to juggle reality with the hand-held life they led at Harvard. You're in charge of managing those people, and they respect that what they do is demanding and that no one but you is willing to give them the opportunity to do real work in law, but goddamn it, when one of those people walks in here and tells you that it is not physically possible for them to meet the demands of the tasks assigned them," she was almost shrieking, "You do not threaten them with their job and tell them to deal with it."

Lewis looked to Harvey and Jessica for help but Jessica just relaxed into her seat and raised her eyebrows at him, indicating he was on his own and she was watching.

Meanwhile, Harvey had been studying this stranger carefully. Her hair was a mix of brown and red, almost reaching her elbows and probably very good at hiding the shaved side of her head when she wasn't harassed by Lewis Litt. From where Harvey leaned on the window sill she was sporting unsquashed cleavage in a plain enough ivory t-shirt beneath a light grey jacket. It wasn't a suit but it was smart and flowed with extra material at the front, no buttons. Her pin skirt reached just above her knees, looking almost sailor authoritative with three buttons in line with each of her hips. It was a deep blue-green and made her perfect pale legs look paler as they made their way down into her plain black, scuffed high heels.

"What do you want me to do, Lauren?" Lewis asked.

"Read the charges, review the workload you gave Mis McGaulley, do what you should have done in the first place and call and apologise. And then just for my benefit that I can defend you against your 'underlings' as you like to put it to me, you'll write a short essay on how you should have addressed the situation; it had better say you should have listened, said to Miss McGaulley that you understood her enquiry, then you would have reviewed the case load and how you would have resolved the issue if there really was one. Which in this case their was - even a layman like me can see that."

Lewis nodded resentfully.

She turned to leave without looking at Harvey or Jessica but managed to say as she exited,

"Apologies for the interruption Miss Pearson."

"Miss Toni," Jessica said softly making Lauren stop and turn her head to Jessica, "New shoes tomorrow please."

Harvey watched her through the glass partition wall as she strode away. Without the hair in her face, piercings glinted from the centre of her lip, her nose, and two steel tunnels pried open the lobes of her ear.

"Who was that?"

"Miss Lauren Toni." Lewis said, staring at Jessica.

"I hired her after the suicide." Jessica explained.

"There was a suicide?" Harvey questioned. She stared at him flatly, unsurprised but disappointed by his lack of attention to the firm.

"It was a condition of keeping the flow of Harvard students - Lewis isn't a bad boss but clearly the school won't answer for failing its pupils in life skills."

Harvey scoffed.

"I know, right." Lewis said, clearly frustrated with the whole idea.

"Back to business." Jessica began and the meeting resumed as though Lauren never happened.

Harvey was busy working in his office and had been staring at his laptop screen for so long he could feel his eyes beginning to cross. He slapped it shut and stretched in his chair, looking through the glass partitions to the inside of the building. Lauren was at the desk speaking to Donna. When she was done she patted t desk, smiled at Donna as Donna stood and walked away. She didn't look inside the office as she walked by and Donna was stood in front of Harvey's desk by the time the woman was out of eyeshot.

"Yeah?"

"That's the new Junior Associate's Wellbeing Officer."

"I know. What does she want?"

"She wants to discuss Mike -"

"Why me? Lewis is -"

"With both of us."

Harvey looked to Donna significantly. "Do you think she?"

"I think she's smarter than people here give her credit for."

He sighed before deciding, "We have nothing to worry about."

Donna seemed reassured and left Harvey to work. He turned in his chair to his window and tried to think why on earth she would need both Donna and Harvey in a room.

"So, tell me about Michael."

"It's Mike." Harvey insisted from his desk, agitated by the calmness of the woman - what did she know that he didn't?

"You and Mike have a special relationship."

"Yes." said Donna as Harvey said "No."

Lauren smiled and closed over her notebook.

"Mike never went to Harvard and he's only here because he actually does the job and because you will leave if he is forced to leave." She looked between Donna and Harvey's guarded faces, "I'm not going to be illusive here; Jessica Pearson let me in on the secret. There's why you should trust me. Also, I'm not here to quiz you about him for some maniacal purpose. I'm concerned for him. He refuses to speak to me and from what I've observed, telling him I know won't inspire his confidence in me. So I'm here to get to know the situation better and to try to get the people he works with to encourage him to let me do my job."

"Why are you concerned?" Donna asked before Harvey could.

"Because he won't talk to me. It might be because of this secret it might be because he's busy working or it could be something else. It's my job to be nosy and the prospect of it being something else bothers me."

"What is it that you do exactly?" Harvey asked. She inhaled deeply through her pierced nose as though she had been asked that far too many times in recent weeks.

"I coach people through time management and work-life balancing. Right now I'm working with the Junior associates alone but I'm aiming to cover the entirety of the firm eventually."

"That's a big aspiration."

"Suicide rates among lawyers and bankers is high -"

"And how is a tattooed pierced freak like you going to help that?"

She smiled at Harvey while Donna tried to mask her shock; his insult was unnecessary.

"If you want to know my life story we're going to need a lot longer than a half an hour to cover it. Ask HR for my file if you're so interested but don't stop me doing my job. I want to see Mike Ross in my office in the next 10 working days."

She got out of her chair and left.

Harvey looked to Donna who was watching her go.

"Are you as curious as I am?" she asked him.

"No."

She scoffed and left his office.

Harvey had forgotten about the meeting with Lauren until he found a thick file on his desk with her name on it. He walked to Donna's desk.

"What's this?"

"Read it."

"I have more pressing things to do."

"Harvey," she looked at him significantly, "Read it."

Harvey sat back down in front of Lauren at their table in the busy restaurant. He poured her a glass of red wine and she thanked him as she brought the wine glass to her lips. He placed the file in front of her. She peered at it, set down the glass and said,

"It still amazes me how thick it is."

"Your qualified." he said somberly.

"I am. Did that warrant a whole meal to tell me though?"

"That's all paper, I need to know that I can trust you."

"So you don't trust Jessica's judgement?"

"No, I do but I'm not someone who just takes another person's word that I can trust anybody. you're going to have to prove that to me."

She took a sip of the wine, holding Harvey's gaze, before saying, "Bring it on."

At Harvey's apartment, she tossed his tie aside, stepping out of her shoes as Harvey pried his feet from his. Their lips barely parted as he led her backwards through his apartment, undoing his buttons hastily while she pried open his belt and cast it from him.

Throughout the dinner Harvey pulled every trick he knew to get to play the 'man' and not the game but she was transparent and proud of it. She was comfortable and relaxed no matter how he pressured her, she only faltered when he said,

"You're beautiful."

She smirked, a defensive maneuver she used to buy herself time before she would respond to a question.

"Time for beer." she decided, rising and leaving the restaurant. Harvey called for the cheque and wondered if she would be waiting outside for him. She was in a nearby bar, waiting for him at that door and called his name before she entered. He followed. Here she was easily at home, drinking half pints of lager and winding up the staff and surrounding patrons with fervour. It was easy to get lost in the drink and banter and soon his guard was abolished as well. That's when it started. The significant eye contact, the brushing hair from her face and the placing a hand anywhere on the other at any time. It was obvious for the onlookers to see that the time they had spent together had grown into attraction and it took a chant of 'kiss, kiss, kiss...' for Harvey to pin her to the bar and do as he was asked. Both had seen it as fun and games until a little showmanship for the sake of a good time turned into an understanding: this was more than showmanship.

They finished their drinks. Harvey haled a cab. The elevator doors shut on them and they were alone. This time she pinned him into a kiss.

Naked, sweating, without switching any lights off, Harvey held onto the headboard of his bed and thrust upwards. He was getting closer to the edge and he gave up keeping his cool and not making animalistic sounds. He sighed and grunted with the effort to keep going, his thighs burned and the sound of her voice as it escaped her made his spine tremble. She balanced on the bed carefully, her legs around Harvey but her feet planted firmly on the mattress as she held onto his shoulders. At last she couldn't to any more for their position and tried not to go limp as an orgasm tightened every muscle in her body, she cried out his name and he was so close to finality but he couldn't hold her up this way much longer. He adjusted so one arm held her close to him and one knee was on the mattress. In this position he pulsed his hips but also pulled her frame down to him and she moaned so close to his ear that it wasn't long before he had to slow and his own moan escaped him. They sank down onto the sheets, slick with sweat and struggling to regain a steady breathing pattern.

"You slept with her." Jessica started as she walked into Harvey's office. It had been two days since his dinner with Lauren and it threw him to hear Jessica know so.

Donna's eyebrows shot up and Harvey sighed. How did he turn off the damn intercom?

"What gave you that impression."

"You reserve a certain look for people you sleep with Harvey and she got it when you left the elevator this morning."

"That's the basis for your theory."

Jessica held his gaze until he caved.

"What's it to you?"

"We don't have relationships in this firm."

"Fine, it wont happen again." he said unconvincingly.

"Are you hearing me, Harvey?"

"What is the big deal? We don't even work together."

"The big deal is she knows about Mike and I trusted you not to screw that up."

"Who says I will screw that up?" Harvey demanded, standing now, facing off his boss.

"When you break her stupid heart: she doesn't know you. Fix it, Harvey."

With that Jessica took her leave and Donna promptly entered.

"Harvey Specter, she is not your type, how did that happen?"

"I have a type?"

"And she is not it."

"Thanks Donna."

"So what was she like?"

Harvey looked significantly at Donna. "Get back to work."

"Where is your sense of -"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I'm going I'm going."

"Hey Harvey," Mike started as Harvey walked by his cubicle.

"Not now Mike."

This was strange, Harvey didn't come to the bullpen unless he wanted Mike. Mike followed Harvey as he walked right into Lauren's office.

"What is this?" Harvey demanded.

"Elaborate?"

"You and me, what is it?"

She leaned back in her chair, "What do you want it to be?

"I'm asking you."

She smirked and leaned back into her work. "It was a one night stand."

"And nothing more."

"You tell me."

Harvey put his hand on the door and quickly said, "I'll see you after work tomorrow. Wear something I can rip off."

With that Harvey left and minutes later Mike walked in on a still smiling Wellbeing Officer.

"I'm sorry, can I just ask what happened?"

"Well hot damn." Lauren remarked. Harvey got Mike Ross into her office.


	2. Chapter 2

Harvey walked into Lauren's office and set two files on her desk.

"What's this?" she asked, not really looking at it or Harvey.

"We're married."

"What?"

"Remember Vegas?"

"That was weeks ago."

"But do you remember it?"

"I remember the flight... We didn't... Why are there two files here?"

"We didn't marry each other."

"That should make me feel better." she said as she looked at the name signed with hers. She shut the file over as though something would spring from it. She shook her head.

"What are we going to do?"

"Jessica is on her way here."

"How do you know?"

"She gave Donna the files to deal with so that I would find out and so that she could -"

Jessica walked in. "What is wrong with you two?"

"Do that?" Lauren guessed to Harvey quietly.

"It was bad enough you continued to see each other after I expressly said not to, but I forgave you. Out of the goodness of my heart. Because I thought you actually liked each other. Then you pull this bullshit."

"Jessica," Harvey began, trying to explain. She held up her hand and shook her head,

"Don't bother Harvey. What's done is done. You know what I have to do now."

"Please Jessica," He started but Lauren interrupted softly,

"Harvey, let it be."

"You're fired." Jessica said to Lauren.

"You can't do that -" Harvey began.

"I have to." Jessica protested as Lauren said,

"I agree with her."

Harvey looked to Lauren as though she had betrayed him.

"Get your things and leave. Now." Jessica demanded.

"I disagree with that." Lauren told Jessica.

"How dare you." Jessica stated firmly. Suddenly Harvey might as well have been anywhere else in the world. He stopped mattering to both women in the office.

"You called in your favour Jessica, and it was to give up my whole life, travel to the other side of the country and do a job. I wont leave until it's finished."

"I just finished it."

"It's not finished until I'm sure the next officer in here is going to do my job right."

"That isn't your decision."

"I don't owe you any more Pearson. Now get out. I have a replacement to hire."

Harvey waited for Jessica to say more but once she was finished hesitating, she left.

"What do you mean you owed -"

"Get out, Harvey."

"Lauren -"

"I said get out." she snapped. He took the files and left the office. Lauren tried to control herself but within minutes she swept her arms over the desk, sending everything it housed to the floor.

Harvey walked by Mike's desk and ordered him to his office. Mike sighed half way through writing up an infidelity suit and did as he was told. As Harvey entered his office he made a b-line for his desk, listening for the closing of his door behind Mike to say,

"We have a problem."

He tossed the files on the desk and indicated Mike read them. Mike picked both up and quickly found Harvey married to his girlfriend. Mike was suddenly livid.

"You married Rachel -"

"Read the other one before you get pissy about it, kid."

Mike read it and had to sit down. "I married Lauren."

"And now she's getting fired because she had relations with a first year, someone she should protect."

"We can get all this annulled."

"Not without proof of impaired judgement or a mix up."

"This can't be the only evidence that it happened."

"Do you remember Vegas?"

"I remember the flight..." Mike hung his head.

"We have to find something we can use, because a judge has to sign off on any annulment and there isn't one I know that will do it without evidence."

"And there is no evidence to suggest you and Lauren are in a relationship or that Rachel and I are because we all keep it quiet in the office..."

"Which is how we ended up in Vegas."

Rachel finally joined Mike, Harvey and Lauren at their private booth in the stylish, up market bar everyone but Lauren looked at home in. In fact, today she looked more like a goth than ever - her eyes were smokey black all around, her neck was encompassed by a thin black leather strap, and a floaty black top she wore regularly to work was accompanied by heavy boots, worn out black jeans and a thick silver studded belt. Next to the suits and Rachel's gold and black stripped, fitted dress to her knees she looked like an unruly client.

"What was so urgent about lunch today?" Rachel asked as she settled into the group. Everyone else had found out about the marriages the day before, but Rachel wasn't available until lunch the next afternoon.

"We're married." Mike said angrily, looking at her with stoney eyes and through them she knew instantly something about that statement was amiss.

"Something happened in Vegas." she thought out loud.

"She should be a lawyer." Lauren commented to her drink. Rachel looked to Harvey quizzically.

"She's drunk." Harvey provided.

"My day off." Lauren added. "I don't care."

"And she's fired." he added to Rachel.

"I accrued sick days and I will have them. I am… so distraught having lost my job."

"She owed Jessica and won't tell me why." Harvey said to Lauren more than Rachel. Lauren's head turned frighteningly at a steady pace to Harvey and she flatly replied,

"If you weren't oscillating so, I would hit you for that."

Harvey peered to Mike, "Mike, handle your wife."

"Wait," Rachel interrupted, trying to blink reality out of her eyes, "You married... But then how could I...?" Her eyes flutter fully open in shock. "If we're..." she indicated Harvey, "does this mean I'm fired?"

She looked genuinely hurt and Mike looked to Harvey for help because he couldn't fathom Pearson Hardman without Rachel. It was Lauren though, who provided the answer.

"Not. At. All. I get fired because my position above Mike and directly relating to Mike makes it possible for speculation of manipulation on my part into getting into his pants."

The three stared at her while trying to repeat her words in their heads, only slower so that they could make sense of them. She slapped the table and muttered to herself about how it made sense if you had two brain cells to rub together and went to get herself another couple of drinks.

Mike and Rachel shifted uncomfortably as Harvey watched Lauren's uneven pathway to the bar.

"I have to go take care of her, don't I?" Harvey suggested aloud.

"Unwritten and written rules of marriage aside, you are sleeping with her." Rachel provided.

"So yes." Mike added, grateful to have a minute of peace with Rachel.

"So Rachel Specter..." Mike began. Rachel threw him a very unamused look, "... too soon. Right. Look, Rachel, we'll fix this as soon as we can but right now we need to find out if there is anything we can access from Vegas that weekend.

"All I can remember is the flight."

"All any of us can remember is the flight. What did we even do?"

"We drank. A _lot_."

"Yeah but when have you ever been drinking and been completely incapable of remembering even the smallest detail?"

"Every spring break I could get to before it was legal for me to drink."

Mike's neck snapped back a little as he imagined a carefree, drunk Rachel running around the streets in the sun in a bikini. "I have to find something. We have to get this annulled."

"Are we trying to get Lauren's job back?"

"Even if we could annul, the record still shows we were married so Jessica can't overlook that."

Lauren appeared, almost running and downed her tall glass of cola infused whiskey. She bade Rachel and Mike farewell and continued on her one-woman bar crawl. Harvey tried to contain her physically to no avail and didn't even say goodbye.

"So we can't revue… that." Rachel sighed as they both watched the show.

"No. We can get the paperwork fixed but not her job."

"I need a drink." Rachel decided. One stiff cocktail down her neck she was feeling much more relaxed.

"Mike..." Rachel said, suddenly smiling and sultry, "I think this is the only time I will ever be happy to cheat on my husband and to let someone cheat on their wife with me."

Mike wasted no time. He grabbed Rachel's hand and dragged her out of the bar to the first place he could find that that could have some privacy in.

Harvey rapped on Lauren's apartment door.

"Go away." she called dully from her living room.

"No." he called through the wood. "Let me in."

"Fuck off Harvey."

"Again, no."

"You're not my husband."

"If you want I can get him for you."

She appeared at the door in nothing but a black t-shirt bra, a pair of full pants sporting Emily the Strange, tartan socks to her thighs and an open black zipper so worn to death it looked thinner than a cardigan. The make up was gone - all of it - and her hair was pulled up and out of her face in a scarf. She was smiling despite looking peakish.

"I thought hangovers were for mornings." he said coolly.

"Can I help you?"

"You can't even look after yourself - what good are you to me for help?" He was trying for humour but she started to close the door. He held it open with his palm against it.

"Last try before I jam your fingers in the door and frame." she said dully.

"Talk to me, Laur'."

"What about?"

"You just lost your job."

"You only want to know because of what you heard me say to Jessica."

"I'm not saying I don't want to know the full story, but you're a mess: I've never seen you a mess: you're a Wellbeing Officer for christ'sake. Talk to me, Lauren."

"I am talked out."

"To who?"

"My family. They've been on the phone all day while I've sobered up and developed an early evening hangover."

Harvey was hurt, "What about me?"

"Without sounding like an ass, what about you?"

"I'm right here: chasing you, and you won't talk to me."

She started to retort but he interrupted before she could hurt him more,

"Did you think maybe I needed to talk to _you?_"

She tried to think of something to say, anything to carry the argument on or comeback at him with but... She stood aside and he let himself in. He set about pouring them both drinks and she leaned on her kitchen counter with her arms crossed, watching him.

"So hit me, what's on your mind?" she droned. He turned to her and passed her the drink. She set it on the table.

"I'm sorry you lost your job. If there was anything I could do I would do it, but there is only so much manipulation and sabotage one person can handle and I'm beginning to loose track of how much I'm… Look, I don't have the patience to bullshit with you, okay?"

Lauren looked confused as he revealed this to her, then her features relaxed, "I don't want to know. I'll get a job, don't worry."

"That's not my worry."

"What is?"

"Don't move back to wherever it was you came from."

The room grew heavy with silence as she stared at him.

"Why would I stay here?"

He looked hurt and he took a bigger gulp of alcohol. "You're heartless."

"We've been sleeping together for what? Three months? Four? You don't even know where I came from."

"Where did you come from then?"

"Nice try."

"Without sounding like a sap I'm attached to you Lauren. I have to sound like an idiot for you to get that. So I'm asking you to stick around. Move in with me if you can't afford this place - I make enough money -"

"You're asking me to move in with you? Shit, talk about rash decisions -"

"Why not? We get along, Hell, we even enjoy each other's company. What is the big deal?"

"The big deal is we got drunk and collectively got married to other people."

"We don't know what happened: that could have been a misunderstanding on the part of the people who married us?"

"That's just as likely as the reality being we swapped partners for a night."

"I would never do that. To you or to Mike. _You_ would never do that and put your job in danger."

She lost the volume in her voice, "I've fucked up every job I've ever had, I would not put this past me."

"I don't want to think of you getting back at me for something by sleeping with Mike." Harvey boomed. Lauren's enlightened eyebrows sprang up.

"So _that's_ it. You can't keep the image of _me_ cheating on _you_ out of your head? Well Fuck you!"

"That's not what I mean, Lauren."

"It's exactly what you mean - that's why it fell out of your fucking mouth."

"This isn't what I came here to say."

"So spit it out Spector."

He looked like he was struggling to speak. Then he headed for the door.

"Do you know what, no." he said as he exited. Lauren tried to keep it together but the tears and the sob happened before she could catch them and she cried loudly with her head in her hands.

Donna walked into Harvey's office behind him the next morning.

"Did you do it?"

"Do what?" he asked, carrying on with his morning routine without looking at her. He just got his suit jacket unbuttoned to sit down when Donna said,

"Ask Lauren to marry you, what else?"

"What?"

"We both know that's what you want. You've been staring at those files every spare second you have in here for two days and then staring out the window dreaming." Donna began mocking Harvey by pouting her lips, bringing one pointed finger to her lips in mock pondering as she looked out the window, and saying, "Hm, I wonder what he's thinking about. Duh, Harvey!"

"You said it yourself, she isn't my type." Harvey provided dismissively while returning to his routine. Time for the laptop to come on and get signed into.

"You're _type_ is all wrong for you - look how far it's gotten you." She perched herself on his window ledge and looked out, "I bet you see kids and a dog, and -"

"Get out Donna, I'm not doing this with you."

"Seriously Harvey," Donna began, her tone changing with her posture as she stood to face her friend and boss, "What's going on with you. I've seen you messed up and strung out but not like this. I don't know what this is."

Harvey paused. He looked to his friend and took a deep breath to admit,

"Neither do I."

Donna chewed the inside of her cheek trying to think of what she should say net, only to find herself nodding in acknowledgement and walking back to her desk.

"I don't like this." Donna told Rachel in the staff kitchen, holding onto her mug of hot chocolate as Rachel warmed some lunch in the microwave. "I don't know how to deal with this… whatever it is with Harvey."

"Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with him. Maybe it's her." Rachel speculated.

"I haven't considered that. I haven't seen her. Have you seen her?"

"Not yet. Has Harvey?"

"Or her husband?"

The microwave binged and Rachel laughed, taking out her lunch and following Donna to the dining chairs and table.

"They barely spoke before we all got drunk and decided it was a good idea to spontaneously go to Vegas for a weekend."

"You seem to be taking it in your stride."

"It's paperwork. I wont lose my job over it."

"And Mike isn't turning into a wiry green Hulk on you?"

Rachel laughed again, "Not at all. We're having fun with it."

"Naughty Rachel." Donna mocked approvingly.

"We do need to hurry up and get _something_ to prove it was not intentional besides the fact we can't remember the night. It's too long since the event to do toxicology tests, and there are no evidence of long standing relationships between us or anyone else -"

"Except for my testimony if called upon." Donna interrupted.

"Yes, and that, but we just need to push it through until it happens. Divorces will be quick if it comes to it. The big deal isn't in the act, it's in the aftermath. I'd be devastated if I were in her shoes."

"Should we talk to her? Comfort her?"

Just then Lauren walked in, looking just as professional but rebellious as ever, to grab a tupperware box from the fridge, smile a polite hello, and leave again.

"Looks fine to me." Rachel commented.

Harvey saw Lauren talking to a stranger to him while waiting for the elevator. He walked over and just caught the doors as they began to shut to jump in.

"Hi Lauren, what are you doing here?"

"Harvey Specter, this is Margo Daer, and I am interviewing her for the job as Wellbeing Officer. She seems promising so far."

"Nice to meet you. I thought you took time off."

"I get well rested thank you."

She was being dismissive and false and Harvey did not like it.

"Are you free today, I could really talk with you as soon as possible."

"I'm booked up sorry."

"Then make room."

"I'm not doing this right now."

He wanted to retort, but sighed, taking one look at Margo Daer, in her mousy brown hair and designer blue suit, and waited for the doors to open.

Harvey was about to leave his office for the day and find Lauren only she walked into his office before he could close over his computer.

"Oh good, you're free." she said and sat on his couch.

"You took your sweet time." he commented sitting next to her.

"I did." she smiled, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

"What's going on with you?"

She opened her eyes and turned her head to him, still laying it back.

"Harvey, I dreamed about marrying you because I let myself. I let myself because I wanted to keep this casual. I wanted to keep this casual because… Well I wanted to see if being casual suited me in a new city. Then this happens and you're all, 'move in with me' and I lose this job … I can't believe how life fucked me in one move."

"I got screwed as a result of Vegas too -"

"Shut up Harvey. I didn't want this to end yet but it has two ways to go." she was whispering, lifting her head up and placing her fingertips along his jaw looking sad, "This either gets serious or it ends now and I'm… I'm so torn. It's not just the difference between continuing what we have and not - it's moving away and moving in with you."

"You might get another job."

"You saw my file."

"Jessica could help you out - I can help you out."

She shook her head, "I've paid Jessica my debt and I don't want to owe you anything."

"What is it with you and Jessica?"

She shut her eyes, "I didn't hear that."

"You're driving me crazy."

"At least you get a break from me." she smiled. "So is this goodbye or not?"

"Does it have to be an ultimatum?"

"I can't stay in this state of purgatory. I need to move on in one direction or the other. For my wellbeing."

Harvey sighed.

"Let me think about this."

Lauren looked sad as she kissed him for the last time, rose from his seat and said, "You shouldn't have to."

She walked away and Harvey felt his heart start pounding in his ears. Sweat broke out under his arms and on his scalp as the door hushed shut behind her. His palms were slick and he tried to force reason into his head.

It didn't work.

He managed to catch up with her on the street a thirty second run from Pearson Hardman.

"Lauren!"

She turned to him, looking as proud as she could manage with red eyes and a tear streaked face.

"It should have been you." he said, regaining his regular breathing pattern surely. "I should have recklessly, drunkenly, and thoughtlessly married you because then right now I wouldn't be trying to find a way to make it all go away. We should be laughing about this, and moving your stuff into my apartment and having sex like it's our goddamn honeymoon and you shouldn't be walking away right now."

"How can I be certain you mean it?" she asked, her voice tight. He walked towards her,

"Because when you walked out my whole body protested. I may not say the right things or even think the right things because I'm a lawyer and I'm supposed to think of ways to weasel out of situations, but I'm still human and my very human gut tells me I can't let you go now."

She was smiling despite the tears and she tried to compose herself. She opened her mouth to say something but Harvey stepped forward, held her face with his hands and kissed her with crushing intent. She pulled him to her with her hands and tried not to forget how to stand up.


End file.
